Native PDF highlighting in Linux

[demetriodn]

Dear all

I have been using Ubuntu for a while now (4 years), but I am still a begginner-google-dependant user.
I dont know much about Linux, or programming, but something intrigues me.

How come after all these years developing PDF readers for linux there is still no native PDF highlighting??? Is it so difficult to achieve?

Im getting tired of using windows softwares under Wine.

Okular and Xournal are not options, you cannot save the annotations to the PDF files and if you do, other PDF readers do not recognize it.

Could somone explain me why there is still no native PDF reader with Highlight in Linux???

[zerubbabel]

I haven't found any native Linux tools for annotating pdfs, but PDF XChange Pro works very well under Wine, and allows import and export of annotations in standard Adobe Acrobat fdf format. It's not free, but it packs a lot of power for $38 for the Pro version.

[entropy1]

With xournal, you can export to pdf, and then read the new pdf file with any pdf read such as acrobat reader or evince.

Example:

You have file.pdf

Open file.pdf with xournal, and then save it as fileComments.xoj. Now add comments and save; do not close xournal yet. Select File > Export to PDF
in order to create fileComments.pdf. Now you have a pdf file with comments. As an alternative to using Export to PDF, you could Print to PDF.

[rewyllys]

Dear all

I have been using Ubuntu for a while now (4 years), but I am still a begginner-google-dependant user.
I dont know much about Linux, or programming, but something intrigues me.

How come after all these years developing PDF readers for linux there is still no native PDF highlighting??? Is it so difficult to achieve?

Im getting tired of using windows softwares under Wine.

Okular and Xournal are not options, you cannot save the annotations to the PDF files and if you do, other PDF readers do not recognize it.

Could somone explain me why there is still no native PDF reader with Highlight in Linux???

I have been quite happy with PDF Studio Pro, which does just about everything that Adobe Acrobat does. And it costs much less than Adobe Acrobat.

PDF Studio Pro is available in a native Linux version from
http://www.qoppa.com/pdfstudio/index.html

[demetriodn]

zerubbabel: that is the software I have been using ever since I started with Ubuntu, but it lacks integration with other linux apps.

entropy: did you notice the number of steps one should follow to accomplish something that SHOULD be very simple? And it is very simple in a lot of Windows software. Remember also that you cant view page thumbnails with Xournal.

rewyllys: thanks for the advice, I think I'll give it a try

So again, why is it so difficult to do it in Linux?

[haqking]

read this thread

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1954815

[PGScooter]

For highlighting and annotating, Mendeley is great. It is free but proprietary. It is not a pdf editor, but highlighting and annotating work great. I think they are adding more colors to highlight in also.

[demetriodn]

Yes, I'm using Mendeley as a Zotero complement, because of the ease of acessing the PDFs. The PDF interface is excellent, the only problem is that Mendeley does not save the annotations to the PDF, so you can't share your articles with your colleagues (only if they use Mendeley too) or open them in another software. I would really be a good alternative if it could save to the PDF, better yet if they release a standalone version of the reader.

[PGScooter]

Yes, I'm using Mendeley as a Zotero complement, because of the ease of acessing the PDFs. The PDF interface is excellent, the only problem is that Mendeley does not save the annotations to the PDF, so you can't share your articles with your colleagues (only if they use Mendeley too) or open them in another software. I would really be a good alternative if it could save to the PDF, better yet if they release a standalone version of the reader.

Are you sure? Are you using the most recent version (from PPA) ? I haven't used Mendeley recently but I thought that they implemented this feature. I would be interested in knowing. Are you sure that the pdf reader that you're using doesn't have problems *reading* the annotations ?

[haqking]

[IMG]<snip>[/IMG]Im getting tired of using windows softwares under Wine.

Then dont use it.

There are plenty of alternatives and or using Virtual machines